Elisheva reminded us that > On the contrary they said that pacifiers *were* related to early weaning but that it > appeared to be a *correlation* not a *cause.* > > Evidence based doesnt' mean only when the evidence matches our intuition, > after all > We know that breastfeeding is best, and can learn to accept the finer points... Correlations lead to interesting possibilities, too. For instance, perhaps mothers who would not normally have been able to cope with a frequent nurser were able to breastfeed longer because they felt the pacifier gave them a break. We all know that there are babies who are fussier than others, or who refuse the breast. Are these the ones who were given pacifiers? Did they get breastfed a bit more often than those whose mothers thought that it wasn't good to indulge a sucking need, but then end up giving up because "dry" sucking wasn't enough? Is there an approach to mothering that promotes sustained breastfeeding (of course there is!) and at the same time discourages the use of pacifiers (cribs, exersaucers...)? Were the mothers who did not use pacifiers given more and/or better information about breastfeeding? Were they better able to overcome breastfeeding problems that had nothing to do with pacifier use as a result of prenatal education that included warning against pacifiers? Were pacifiers part of the same kind of hospital policy as mother-baby separation? Perhaps the mothers in the study did not breastfeed as long as some other mothers, but "early" weaning is a relative term, and does not imply that an individual mother did not breastfeed longer than she had planned or would have in other circumstances. When breastfeeding rates go up, it means that a lot of people are breastfeeding who otherwise wouldn't; aren't you glad those who wouldn't have breastfed in the 1960s are breastfeeding now? Does the fact that they use a pacifier make you less happy they are breastfeeding? So many questions; so many possibilities. In a way, this is more interesting than if they had just concluded that pacifier use caused early weaning. I don't know how studies of breastfeeding relationships can make a lot of cause - effect conclusions anyway. I certainly have no idea what causes most behaviours in my children... Jo-Anne *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html